Munster Rugby Team Announced for Thomond Park Farewell
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The Munster rugby team has been announced for their upcoming BKT URC derby against Ulster, with Peter O’Mahony and Stephen Archer set to start in their final games at Thomond Park. According to a report by RTÉ, the two players will be joined by Conor Murray, who will start on the bench.
The team has made five changes to the side that lost to Cardiff last time out, with Jean Kleyn, John Hodnett, and Diarmuid Kilgallen joining O’Mahony and Archer in the starting team. In the back three, Thaakir Abrahams moves from wing to full-back, where he is joined by Calvin Nash and the returning Kilgallen. The rest of the backline remains unchanged, with Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell continuing their centre partnership, and Jack Crowley and Craig Casey starting at out-half and scrum-half, respectively.
Up front, Michael Milne makes his second start for Munster in as many appearances, and he is joined in the front row by Niall Scannell and Archer. Kleyn and captain Tadhg Beirne start together in the second row, with a back-row of O’Mahony, Hodnett, and Gavin Coombes completing the side. RTÉ reports that among the replacements, Lee Barron is in line for his second Munster appearance after making his debut against the Bulls last month.
The article by RTÉ also mentions that Oli Jager and Diarmuid Barron were unavailable due to knocks, and that Munster are ninth in the table on 41 points with two rounds left in the regular season, while Ulster sit in 12th, three points behind. Their final game against Benetton next week is in Cork.
Ulster have also announced their team for the match, with Iain Henderson returning among three changes to their side from the narrow loss to the Sharks a fortnight ago. The captain returns in the second row in place of Alan O’Connor for his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury in February. Rob Baloucoune also makes a return from a similar issue on the right wing, while Mike Lowry is available to start at full-back after coming through the graduated return to play protocols for a concussion.
As reported by RTÉ, Munster and Ulster will face off in a BKT URC derby on Friday at 7:35pm at Thomond Park, with live coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. The match will also be available to stream on the RTÉ News app and to listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra.
Munster Team:
Thaakir Abrahams; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (C); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements:
Lee Barron, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern, Conor Murray, Seán O’Brien, Alex Kendellen.
Ulster Team:
Michael Lowry; Rob Baloucoune, Jude Postlethwaite, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Scott Wilson; Iain Henderson (capt), Cormac Izuchukwu; Matty Rea, Nick Timoney, James McNabney
Replacements:
Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor, David McCann, Dave Shanahan, Stewart Moore, Werner Kok
Watch Munster v Ulster in the URC on Friday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra.
The information provided in this article is sourced from RTÉ.
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